Harvard Housing Study Highlights Need for Action

Aging population could lead to a housing crisis if steps aren't taken soon

On Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2014, AARP Foundation and the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University introduced the groundbreaking new report: Housing America’s Older Adults: Meeting the Needs of an Aging Population at a live event in Washington, DC.

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Focusing on the dramatic aging of the U.S population, the report called attention to key areas where challenges loom, such as in housing affordability and accessibility, as well as social connection and healthcare issues.

The report called for concerted action from both the private and the public sector, from entrepreneurs and nonprofit organizations, and from government at the local, state and national level.

AARP Foundation President Lisa Marsh Ryerson gave the opening remarks and called attention to the fact that the report calls housing the "linchpin of well-being" for older adults. Henry Cisneros, executive chairman of CityView and former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was the keynote speaker and noted that "our country must face the basic facts, and today’s report makes these facts clear. We are aging. We are not ready. We’re not preparing well enough…. We can go to work now, we still have time … but we must think anew, we must plan comprehensively, we must act with determination, and we must fulfill our responsibilities as the great and compassionate nation that we are."

The Harvard report was funded by a grant from AARP Foundation, with the generous support of The Hartford. Additional support was provided by the Policy Advisory Board of the Joint Center for Housing Studies.